If we asked you this question a year ago (actually, we might have…) your answer may have been different from what it is now. With soaring gas prices (raise your hand if you’re paying more than $6 a gallon now!), an electric vehicle is starting to not seem so bad. Plus, more and more places, including parks and campgrounds, are putting in charging stations.
How likely do you think it is that you’ll buy an electric car or truck within the next year? We’re curious. If gas prices keep increasing, will that change your answer? If not gas prices, what would sway you to buy an electric vehicle? Tell us in the comments below, please.
Keep your political comments to yourself, please.
We bought a 2019 Hyundai Kona EV last year, still new. It gets 200 – 300 miles range on a charge, depending on how warm it is out. Warmer temps, higher charge. We installed a level 2 charger in our garage, fully charges in about 8 hours. We also have solar panels, so in effect, the car is solar powered. Otherwise, I don’t think we would have gotten an electric vehicle. It is really fun to drive, very fast and fun to play with getting even more out of a charge. Drawbacks: not enough charging stations, particularly Level 1 chargers, anywhere. Have to use at least 4 different apps to find all the chargers in an area when you are traveling. Wintertime charging gives you less range. The batteries are an environmental nightmare… We had a hybrid, then a plug in hybrid before getting this car. Plug in Hybrids make the most sense right now. We aren’t ready for lots of electric cars on the road yet. Well, maybe Tesla is, but, they have their own issues.
where is the potential power grid to power these vehicles? Yes, you can save on the gas but the miracle plug in the wall that the electric cars draw their charge still needs to have a robust power grid to support these vehicles which is sadly missing currently. The concept is great but you still need either gas fired or coal or nuclear powered production to supply the juice
In the next few years? Sure, but in the next year? No. My car is paid off and it runs well and I don’t drive it that much. I think if you worded your question a little differently you might have gotten a lot more yeses.
Nope
Texas plans to place charging stations for electric cars every 50 miles on most interstates
https://tinyurl.com/yjxkhn83
That’s all well and good but the massive supporting infrastructure for those stations is another thing all together, Texas should address the current day blackouts and brownouts first. People are moving in like there is no tomorrow. They need to cover the immediate household needs of a growing population first.
Until the EV’s come with a standard plug-in battery pack that can be rapidly replaced (plug and play), I have no interest. My various gas vehicles use a common fuel and a common plug. Imagine the horror of finding the different power plugs and battery packs. Interchangable is the way to go.
By ‘Communist Left’, you must be referring to the Chinese government owned factories that make most of the goods people buy? Because otherwise you’ve been watching to much OAN.
Yes, and the Democrats who are active in the government and have publicly said they are Communist or believe in the Communist form of government. That’s all I’m going to say about this.
Amen
Names please.
I tried twice but got flagged.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+many+in+congress+believe+in+communism.&FORM=AWRE
Jeff, What does OAN stand for?
I’m going to guess it’s: “One America News Network, also known as One America News, is a far-right, pro-Trump cable channel…” But that’s just my guess. Have a good night. 😀 –Diane
https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+many+in+congress+believe+in+communism.&FORM=AWRE
Just started a third career, and they give me a work truck that I can drive for a bit of personal use. I know my next personal vehicle will be an electric car, but the question is when Jeep will make one that can be flat towed.
Like Harry, we have an EV, a Nissan LEAF. Leased the first one in 2012 and leased another in 2015, bought it in 2018, not too costly, maybe $16k, still in use at 66k miles and battery fine. It’s our primary car for around town. We have a gas vehicle for road trips as well as our gas motorhome. Kind of like a hybrid, except not all in one car. Charger in the garage, cheap and convenient. We put solar on the roof as well (no volcanoes nearby), which probably covers the driving plus some. Agree that we are in a transitional time, still need gas/diesel, but can use electric for what it currently (pun intended) does best–shorter range trips. We’re starting to look at replacing the LEAF with a longer range vehicle. 9 months wait is a lot less than the wait for a new RV! But agree, it’s a longer time frame for sure. There’s a place for EVs, just not much now for RV use or towing. But they are fun to drive, and we’ve never run out of battery yet (though it’s been close).
I like the pun. Your process of adopting electric transportation seems totally practical to me. I think hybrids should be pushed at this stage for multiple reasons, not the least of which is the ability to power one’s home in the event of a power failure.
I liked the volcano pun too.
I answered “no way” because I have a 2 1/2 year old Ranger that works perfectly for daily use and for towing my trailer. And $5-6 gas is still much cheaper for me than the cost of today’s electric vehicles. But someday in the future (10 years?) I may be happy to buy an electric vehicle, probably a truck, that I could also use for home backup power. Hopefully, this country’s electric supply infrastructure will be up to the task by then!
I will give up my current horse and buggy eventually, not next year, even though it seems nobody else wants to advance society.
Maybe they should get rid of their cell phones and computers too.
When our Audi TT car developed costly trouble with the transmission computer, WE TRIED to order an electric Ford Mustang Mach E. Eight month waiting period. Rarely one in stock to check out. Then went to VW near equivalent electric SUV called ID-4. Very compatible, included free charging for a year — but none available. Tried the same with Subaru-Toyota near equivalent electriv EV…. but only sold in Oregon. So we spent a fortune to repair the Audi, still awaiting the parts 2 months later ….. Is this the real world?
If only we had the grid to provide the electric, if only we find a way to collect the road tax, if only we had a safe disposal system for the used batteries.
How many people know it takes an hour of charge by a 110 volt (household) to drive 5 miles. Unless you live in an area where you want to use the heat in the vehicle
I hope the 92% of the voters (at the time I voted) do not have grandchildren because if we do not stop burning fossil fuel your grandchildren will not have much of a future.
I find it interesting that all the weather troubles are suddenly linked to fossil fuel use. News flash, climate change is a natural occurrence that has been going on before the industrial age ever came into existence. I’m sure all the droughts and such found in the Bible were caused by fossil fuel use!
Well said!
Weather has gotten worse because of the warming climate – and it’s warming because CO2 and such are trapping the heat in our atmosphere. Please, don’t confuse weather with climate, and don’t believe non-scientific data from the Bible to try to shoot down scientific facts.
Fact, the magnet north pole has moved farther away from its normal position than it’s been since they have been tracking it. Do you think that has no effect on our weather? Read about it in Popular Science. CO2 also comes from volcanic action. How many volcanoes are spewing CO2 into our oceans? No one knows but volcanic action has increased on the dry land. As Roy Davis suggests, Since the earth was first created as a fiery mass, the weather was very different and has been in consent change. As long as the earth’s core cools, there will be change.
Keeping politics out of this one is like ignoring the elephant in the room
Yea Man.
With the way I travel and electric car with a range under 500 miles at a time is not what I want. Don’t mind stopping to stretch or fill up, but don’t want to stop for more than 20 minutes just to charge my vehicle. I would however consider a hybrid.
I am with Kat on this. Thinking of a hybrid myself. They seem to at this time proven to be dependable.
IF anything happens to my paid off car I will look at buying a hybrid but no promises.
I guess I live in a cave. I have never seen a charging station and would not know where to look around here for one. I like my land line and black and white TV. I got this thing I am typing on to communicate with my daughter, AND to read RVTravel. Other than that, I am fine living in the dark. Yep, I was born 100 years too late.
Time to get out of the cave or open your eyes.
I try to keep up, but I remember when I was little, we had no running water or indoor plumbing. My cousins did not have either of those or electricity, except for open glass batteries in the basement, until they were about 6 years old and they watched the REA come in. I remember our ice box. In my early teens my grandmother was still cooking and heating the house on a wood burning stove. I’m not kicking and screaming, but it gets harder to keep up.
And yet, people were probably happier back then, in general. The US “happiness index” has been on a slow decline trend for two decades despite inordinate wealth and “toys.”
For some reason, that I cannot figure out, people worked harder, longer hours, but had more leisure time to visit each other. We no longer spend all day Saturday doing the wash, or firing up the wood stove, or stoking the furnace, or going to the out house, or emptying the night time pottie, or milking by hand, or pumping water, or, or or. And today we do not have time to even visit with our neighbors or kids except by text?? I remember seeing and doing all this and I am only 76, not 90+. I think all this media stuff has kept us from living our own lives. Heck, we no longer have time to use words, its all three letter acronyms! Sometimes I can’t keep up, sometimes I don’t want to “keep up”.
I wouldn’t be surprised that the more charging stations that are needed the price of electricity will increase more than what it is now. Electricity is much more costly than the natural gas to heat our home. It will be the same whining in the future of price per KW/hr as is $6 is now. We won’t live long enough to see the necessary infrastructure to be built out and what it’s final cost will be.
AMEN!
This was talked about back when Obama was running.
Just not practical for most of our vehicle usage, even around town.We were threatened with the possiblity of rolling blackouts for this summer, as one power plant was being shut down, but that’s been put off for a year, but next year is still a question. (Wind and solar are far from balancing the loss.) My daily driver is our tow vehicle, and nothing would make us change to electric for that, for a lot of reasons (300-400 mile travel days, camped miles from anywhere, not wanting to spend time waiting for a vehicle to charge + a whole lot more.
Add to that that electric vehicles come with a range of eco issues, so we think they aren’t any more eco-friendly, and may be much worse than a standard vehicle.
Just read that the F-150 lightening will tow a small trailer around 50 miles per charge. How many days to travel my 300 mile a day plan?